WASHINGTON—In a letter of November 9, Bishop Frank J.
Dewane of Venice, Florida, Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and
Bishop George V. Murry, SJ of Youngstown, Ohio called for amendments to the
current draft of the House of Representatives tax reform bill "for the sake of
families" and "for those struggling on the peripheries of society who have a
claim on our national conscience."

"Doubling the standard deduction will help some of those
in poverty to avoid tax liability, and this is a positive good contained in the
bill," wrote the Bishops of the Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act of 2017. "However, as
written, this proposal appears to be the first federal income tax modification
in American history that will raise income taxes on the working poor while
simultaneously providing a large tax cut to the wealthy. This is simply unconscionable."

Bishop Dewane is the Chairman of the USCCB Committee on
Domestic Justice and Human Development, Bishop Cantú chairs the Committee on
International Justice and Peace, and Bishop Murry heads the Committee on
Catholic Education.

According to the nonpartisan congressional Joint
Committee on Taxation (JCT), households with income of $20,000 and $40,000 per
year will see their taxes raised in 2023, 2025, and again in 2027. Taxes will also increase on average taxpayers
earning between $10,000 and $20,000 in 2025.
At the same time, significant tax breaks to the very wealthy—including
millionaires and billionaires—are projected for each year.

The bishop-chairmen highlighted positive provisions in
the areas of education and modest increases to child tax credits, but stressed
that the bill places "new and unreasonable burdens on families," and must be
changed. Included among them are the
elimination of: the adoption tax credit
and adoption assistance program exclusion, the personal exemption (which will
harm many larger families), the out-of-pocket medical expenses deduction, and
incentives to employees and employers dependent care assistance or child care,
among others.

The letter also cautioned that the deficit could "be used
as an argument to further restrict or end programs that help those in need,
programs which are investments to help pull struggling families out of
poverty." Finally, the Bishops called
for fixes to disincentives for charitable giving and affordable housing and
community revitalization development projects that will result from the
legislation.

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